Gas prices in Metro Vancouver hit $1.72 a litre

Metro Vancouver is likely to break more records, but it’s not something to cheer about.

The price of gas remained at 172.9 cents a litre in the region on Monday, after it hit that new North American record on Saturday.

And according to Dan McTeague, senior analyst with GasBuddy.com, a U.S. embargo expected to take effect on Iranian oil next week will only add to the factors that will send it up three cents more to 175.9 per litre as early as Wednesday.

The cheapest gas as of Monday at 8 a.m. in B.C. was 1.259 cents per litre in Dawson Creek.

Get ready for a wild ride @ the ⛽️⛽️ 🇨🇦- With a US oil embargo set to take effect on all Iranian oil next week, OPEC/Russia cutbacks and output problems in Libya and Venezuela, gasoline and diesel prices are set to climb dramatically as early as Wednesday….

McTeague has said the weeks of recent spikes are because of the increase to B.C.’s carbon tax as of April 1, adding about a cent per litre, as well as maintenance at two major fuel suppliers in Puget Sound.

Internationally, he has pointed to the U.S. embargo on Iranian oil, production cutbacks within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies and Russia, and output issues in areas such as Libya and Venezuela.

This is a corrected story. A previous version reported the cheapest price of gas in Hope, B.C. Black Press Media has since learned that gas station is closed.